Tom Hanks tells the Internet to "back off" with the manspreading flack

Tom Hanks is defending himself against "the Internet" after he took some heat for "manspreading," or taking up multiple seats on the subway.

Hanks got a lot of flak for a January photo that caught him casually taking up two seats on a No. 1 train right in the midst of the MTA's awareness campaign to combat the manspreading trend.

"I have an argument with the Internet because there I am on the subway and someone says, 'Oh, Hanks is doing the manspread. He's taking up too much space on the subway,'" the 58-year-old actor told Jill Martin Tuesday during a halftime interview at the Knicks game on MSG Network. "I want to say, 'Hey Internet, that subway car was half empty.' I'm not a guy who's going to take up space. There were like 14 seats that were free. So all I was, was relaxing on the train ride uptown. So hey Internet: back off."

MSG Networks posted the video on its Twitter page, along with the most memorable quote: "Hey Internet, back off!" - Tom Hanks #Knicks."

The MTA began an anti-"manspreading" campaign earlier this year.

During the interview Martin also asked Hanks what movie of his most deserved a sequel. Pointing to an off-screen Kevin Bacon, Hanks said the most he ever laughed was while filming the 1995 space drama "Apollo 13."

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Alison is a reporter covering law enforcement and breaking news. Before joining amNewYork, she worked at The Wall Street Journal. She has a master’s degree from Northwestern University and bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.